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Marines Mordant
The Marines Mordant was a Loyalist Space Marine Chapter of unknown Founding and a Successor Chapter of the Ultramarines. Raised in the 35th Millennium, the Marines Mordant were entrusted with guarding the rimward frontiers of the Maelstrom Zone, a task they performed alongside their fellow Ultramarines Successors the Crimson Consuls, the Vindicators, and the Nova Legion. In the late 41st Millennium, all four Chapters were destroyed through the machinations of the Alpha Legion Chaos Lord Quetzel Carthach. The Chapter is perhaps best known for its one-hundred-year Penitent Crusade through the Tempest Hippocrene in recompense for some unknown offence or dishonour. As wardens of the Maelstrom Zone, the Marines Mordant frequently clashed with the nearby Ork Empire of Octarius as well as with Huron Blackheart's Red Corsairs. Immediately prior to their destruction, the already depleted Marines Mordant had lost two full Battle Companies to the forces of the Tyranids' Hive Fleet Leviathan, weakening them enough for Quetzel Carthach to successfully launch his strike against their homeworld with his Sons of the Hydra. Chapter History The Alpha Legion forces of Quetzel Carthach came to Vitrea Mundi in the late 41st Millennium as part of their Chaos Lord's unending vendetta against the Ultramarines and their Successor Chapters for the death of his Primarch Alpharius. Carthach's army of Heretics, the Sons of the Hydra, did not hesitate to use chemical weapons to achieve its goals. Turncoat Planetary Defence Forces already suborned by the Alpha Legion's infiltrators unleashed a chemical reaction in Vitrea Mundi's great soda-lakes, which began to spew a cloud of highly acidic fog around the planetary capital of Salina City, where the Marines Mordant's fortress-monastery was located. Pandemonium erupted, with hordes of civilians pressing themselves at the fortress-monastery's gates, imploring Chapter Master Tarro Pallidax to allow them in. When the honourable Chapter Master agreed to open his stronghold's gate, Carthach's army stormed the fortress, taking it in a matters of solar hours. It was then that Pallidax lowered the fortress' Void Shields so that the Chapter's Battle Barge Assiduous could open fire upon it from orbit, eradicating both friend and foe alike. Notable Campaigns *'Volvox Wars (Unknown Date.M41)' - Facing a new wave of expansion from the Ork Empire of Octarius, the Marines Mordant were called upon to defeat the Greenskin assault. *'Assault on the Leviathan (Unknown Date.M41)' - In battle with Hive Fleet Leviathan, the Marines Mordant lost two full Battle Companies and its Battle Barge Assiduous was badly damaged. *'Fall of Vitrea Mundi (Unknown Date.M41)' - The Bas-Silica, the fortress-monastery of the Mariens Mordant fell to the Sons of Hydra, an alliance of Renegade forces under the leadership of the Alpha Legion Chaos Lord Quetzel Carthach after an extensive campaign of deception and manipulation. Chapter Organisation Like all Successor Chapters of the Ultramarines, the Marines Mordant were firm adherents of the Codex Astartes, the sacred text on military strategy written by the Primarch Roboute Guilliman himself following the dark days of the Horus Heresy. When the strength of the Marines Mordant began to wane, the Chapter increasingly relied upon its Chapter Serfs, whose training and teaching in the catechism of the Imperial Creed were exemplary. More so than other Chapters, the Marines Mordants ensured that their Chapter Serfs were utterly loyal to them, a loyalty that has often been described as bordering on fanaticism. These Chapter Serfs were exclusively recruited from the Marines Mordant's pool of surviving failed Aspirants, ensuring both their physical abilities and their devotion to the Chapter. Equipped with Flak tabards and Shotguns modified to fire Bolter-rounds, these Serfs doubled as armsmen on board the vessels of the Chapter's fleet. Chapter Homeworld Since its inception as a Chapter of the Adeptus Astartes, the Marines Mordant have always resided on the world of Vitrea Mundi. Located at the heart of the notoriously rich Absinthia System, Vitrea Mundi is a world dominated by great salt crystals and soda lakes, which make the planet look almost purely white from orbit. Vitrea Mundi supported only one true settlement, Salina City, where the Marines Mordant's fortress-monastery of Bas-Silica was located. Vitrea Mundi boasted numerous void-colonies which mined the broken remnants of former xenos-infested planets whose alien masters had been long-vanquished by the Imperium of Man. The people of Vitrea Mundi were known for their striking pale complections and platinum blond hair. Notable Marines Mordant *'Chapter Master Tarro Pallidax' - Tarro Pallidax was the last Chapter Master of the Marines Mordant. In his youth, Pallidax went toe-to-toe with the grim leader of the Octarian Empire, the Overfiend of Octarius himself, and slew him, but not before his opponent smashed through his helm with his hammer, costing the future Chapter Master his left eye and caving in his skull. Clad in relic Terminator Armour, his hair platinum blond like all the natives of Vitrea Mundi and with a Bionic-eye protruding from his ravaged face, Tarro Pallidax possessed a striking appearance. Pallidax had the misfortune of leading the Marines Mordant through their decline, their strength slowly eroded by the myriad threats emerging from the Maelstrom. Defiant to the end, Pallidax wanted to ensure that the enemy assaulting the Marines Mordant's fortress-monastery, the Bas-Silica, would perish with them. In a desperate attempt to hurt the enemy, Chapter Master Pallidax ordered Captain Sol Ventor -- then at the helm of the venerable Battle Barge Assiduous -- to unleash the power of its Bombardment Cannon directly on the fortress-monastery. Pallidax's final order was for Bas-Silica's Void Shields to be lowered to give the Assiduous an open shot. Though the Assiduous was also destroyed in the battle, it succeeded at levelling the fortress-monastery and killing those within -- both friend and foe. *'Captain Sol Ventor' - The battle-hardened Sol Ventor was the Marines Mordant's Captain of the 4th Company and the Chapter's acting Master of the Fleet. Ventor was the designated heir to Chapter Master Pallidax with whom he had built a strong friendship. Ventor lost an arm when the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan launched a voracious assault against the Assiduous' bridge. His dedication was such that the captain refused to take the time to replace his lost limb with an augmetic lest his duties go unfulfilled. Although official records state that Captain Ventor was slain in the crash of his flagship, in truth the Assiduous' bridge had already been stormed and taken by the warriors of the Redacted warband under their leader Occam the Untrue. Occam, fearing that Quetzel Carthach intended to betray and kill him, then allowed the Battle Barge to fire at Bas-Silica anyway as per her captain's last orders, annihilating the other Renegade forces on the ground. *'Master of the Forge Zamander' - Master Zamander was the Marines Mordant's final Master of the Forge. During the Fall of Vitrea Mundi, Master Zamander was on the bridge of the Assiduous, monitoring the work of the repair crews on the stricken Battle Barge. Master Zamander died horribly when the Alpha Legion stormed the Battle Barge's bridge. He was burned alive as he sank through the molten metal that had been the bridge's floor after the explosion of the Melta Bombs used by the Chaos Space Marines of the Redacted warband to breach the Assiduous' bridge. *'Techmarine Arkadii' - Brother Arkadii of the Chapter's Armorium was the Techmarine permanently attached to the venerable Battle Barge Assiduous. He was vaporised by the explosions of the Melta Bombs used by the Chaos Space Marines of the Redacted warband to breach the Assiduous' bridge. *'Company Champion Orthrius' - Brother Orthrius' skill with a blade elevated him to Company Champion of the Marines Mordant's 4th Company. Surviving the initial assault of the Alpha Legion on the Assiduous' bridge, Brother Orthrius readied himself to repel the boarders but was treacherously shot in the back by Shipmaster Darrius, revealed as one of the hidden mortal allies of the insidious Heretic Astartes. Chapter Fleet *''Assiduous'' (Battle Barge) - The Assiduous was one of the most venerable vessels in the Chapter's fleet and had known many moments of glory, one of which was the destruction of the dreaded ''Despoiler''-class Battleship Sacrilegionary. The Assiduous had been severely damaged in battle against the Tyranid Bio-ships of Hive Fleet Leviathan before the Fall of Vitrea Mundi. While still undergoing repairs in Vitrea Mundi's orbital docks, the Battle Barge was boarded by the Alpha Legion warband known as "The Redacted" and the Chaos Cultists in league with them, the Seventh Sons. Using the Cultists' attack as a diversion, the Renegade Space Marines employed the service-decks to covertly reach the Battle Barge's bridge and slay all its command crew. Believing that he was about to be betrayed by his lord, the new master of the Assiduous' bridge, Occam the Untrue, allowed the Battle Barge's last orders to be enacted: the destruction of the Marines Mordant's fortress-monastery, the Bas-Silica, and all those within. Unable to hold on to the Assiduous with the men at his disposal, Occam the Untrue decided to scuttle the ship, sending the Assiduous into a decaying orbit that would eventually see it crash onto Vitrea Mundi's surface with none the wiser as to what had really happened aboard. Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours In honour of their parent Legion, the Marines Mordant's Chapter colours were Ultramarine blue and silver, usually worn in a half and half livery. Chapter Badge The Marine Mordant's Chapter badge is not listed in current Imperial records. Sources *''Legion of the Damned'' (Novel) by Rob Sanders, pp. 26, 97 *''Sons of the Hydra'' (Novel) by Rob Sanders, "α The Serpent's Egg," "β Spitting Venom," "γ Turning Tail" Category:M Category:Imperium Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Space Marines Category:Ultramarines Category:Unknown Founding